Mary Belle Porter-Keys, 90, of Holton, formerly of Denison, died Thursday, November 30, 2017 at Holton Community Hospital in Holton.


She was born November 20, 1927, at Mayetta, Kansas, the second daughter of John Wallace and Margaret Vera Moffett Robson. She attended school at Fairview Grade School, District 21, Denison Rural High School, class of 1945, University of Kansas for two years, one summer each at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, and State Teachers College in Greeley, Colorado.


She taught in rural grade schools from 1947 to 1950 at Christiansen, north of Netawaka in Jackson County, Kansas, and High Prairie, 3 miles east of Denison, Kansas, in Jefferson County, Kansas. She worked at Moser Clinic in Holton, Kansas, for nearly 36 years beginning in 1963.


Mary Belle was a lifelong member of the Denison Reformed Presbyterian Church, where she was a member of the Women's Missionary Fellowship and taught children's classes. She also baked for food sales and AWANA group and assisted with the elderly neighbors. She was a member of the Holton Hospital Auxiliary, the Jackson County Friends of Hospice, and the Fairview Community Club. Hobbies included sewing and reading.


She married William N. Porter June 1, 1950, at the home of her parents in Denison, Kansas. She was widowed November 17, 1960, and raised her four young children as a single mother, with the help and support of her community. On July 28, 1987, she married John Harold Keys at the Denison R.P. parsonage in Denison, Kansas.


Mary Belle was preceded in death by both of her husbands, her parents and a brother, John.


Survivors include her four children, Paul Porter of Holton, Curtis Porter(Sandra) of Olathe, Marjorie Bauman (Ben) of Holton, and Don Porter (Bessie) of Grapevine, Texas; one sister, Eleanor Phillips of Holton; and two sisters-in-law, Loretta Robson of Baldwin and Ruth Lichtenstern of Topeka; eleven grandchildren, Courtney Albin (Nathan), Megan Warner (Jeremy), Joel Porter (Amanda), Todd Porter (Whitney), Nathan Bauman (Becky), Scott Bauman (Aubrey), Alison Anderson (Ian), Ellie Born (Josh), Drew Porter (Ashley), Katie Ailshie and Emilie LeBlanc (Josiah); twenty-eight great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.


Funeral Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, December 6, 2017 at the Denison Reformed Presbyterian Church. Burial will follow in the Denison Cemetery. Mary Belle will lie in state at Mercer Funeral Home in Holton, where family will greet friends from 6:30 – 8:00 p.m. Tuesday evening. Memorials are suggested to the Denison RP Church or Holton Community Hospital c/o Mercer Funeral Home, P.O. Box 270, Holton, Kansas 66436.